Los Cabos

Updated October 2026

Overview and Things to Consider

Los Cabos is a municipality, not a town. It covers the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, about 351,000 people at the 2020 census, and two towns that have very little in common. Cabo San Lucas, at the end of the road by the Arch, has the marina, the cruise tenders, the sportfishing fleet and the bars. San José del Cabo, about 20 miles east and close to the airport, is the municipal seat, with a mission-era church, a plaza, an estuary and a gallery district. Between them runs the Corridor, a stretch of golf courses and resort gates along Highway 1.

BootsnAll already has a guide to Cabo San Lucas itself. This one is about the wider tip of the peninsula, and the main argument is that most independent travelers should sleep in San José and treat Cabo San Lucas as a day trip or a night out. The airport is 8 miles from San José and 23 from Cabo San Lucas. San José's old center still has cobblestone streets, the 1730 mission site and evening crowds on the plaza, and its two weekly street nights are the closest Los Cabos comes to a local scene.

You'll like it here if you want desert mountains running straight into two different seas, winter highs in the low 80s, humpback whales from December to April and some of the best fish tacos in Mexico. You'll hate it if you came to Mexico for cheap, walkable colonial cities, or if you can't stand being sold to. Prices are set for American vacation budgets, taxis charge fixed zone fares instead of running meters, and you'll walk through a hall of timeshare pitches before you leave the airport.

The 2026 moment is mixed. Air traffic is near its record, with 7.53 million passengers at SJD in 2025, almost double 2016. Michelin arrived in 2024 and has kept adding names. And the end of this hurricane season has been busy, with Hurricane Polo passing about 200 miles north on September 29 and Hurricane Rachel closing every beach in Cabo San Lucas on October 2. Neither did serious damage here, but both are reminders of why autumn is cheap.

How Los Cabos Got Here

The Pericú people lived at the tip of the peninsula for thousands of years before the Spanish came, and they called the San José area Añuití. Spanish galleons returning from Manila stopped for water at the San José river, which runs underground for about 25 miles from the Sierra de la Laguna and pools behind a sandbar into an estuary. The Jesuit Nicolás Tamaral founded the mission there in 1730. Four years later the Pericú revolt killed him and destroyed it. The tile mural on the front of today's parish church on the plaza shows his death, and the town's patron saint, Joseph, is still celebrated every March 19.

Cabo San Lucas stayed a fishing settlement much longer. A Japanese castaway counted two houses and about 20 people there in 1842, and an American company started catching and packing tuna after 1917. The change came with the road and the federal government. From 1974 Mexico invested in infrastructure to make Cabo San Lucas a tourism center, and once the Transpeninsular Highway was finished, development ran largely unchecked. The municipality of Los Cabos was created in 1981, and the Corridor's wall of resorts between the two towns is the result.

Two storms shaped the modern resort. Hurricane Odile hit near Cabo San Lucas as a Category 3 on September 14, 2014, cut power to 92% of Baja California Sur, stranded about 26,000 foreign tourists and closed the airport for 18 days. Hurricane Norma, a Category 1, damaged trees, homes and boats in Cabo San Lucas in October 2023. Odile is still tied for the most intense landfall on the peninsula in the satellite era.

Getting There and Around

Almost everyone lands at Los Cabos International Airport (SJD), run by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, about 8 miles north of San José del Cabo. Terminal 1 handles mostly domestic flights and Terminal 2 most international ones. Its busiest foreign route in 2025 was Los Angeles, with about 300,000 passengers, followed by Dallas, Phoenix, Houston and San Francisco. New this winter are Air Transat from Montreal from December 10, Porter from Edmonton from November 16 and a Volaris route to Cancún from December 1. A second, smaller airport, Cabo San Lucas International (CSL), sits about 16 miles south of SJD, closer to Cabo San Lucas.

Getting out of SJD is where Los Cabos starts costing you. You'll walk through a hall of salespeople offering free rides and tours, and most of them are timeshare pitches. Official taxis are sold at kiosks outside Terminal 2 for cash, and in March 2026 they ran $65 to $85 to San José, $75 to $95 to the Corridor and $90 to $115 to Cabo San Lucas. Uber is allowed to drop you at the airport but not to pick you up, a rule the US Consulate in Tijuana repeated in June 2026. The cheap option is the Ruta del Desierto bus from outside Terminals 1 and 2, which Wikivoyage lists at MX$80 to Cabo San Lucas.

Entry is simple for the five big passport groups. Americans, Canadians, Britons, Australians and EU citizens need no visa and can be given up to 180 days, though the officer decides the number and may ask about your plans. Flying in, the airline handles the multiple immigration form (FMM) and builds its MX$983 fee (about $54 in 2026) into your fare. Adults can use e-gates at the airport and must keep the printed e-gate ticket to show on departure. The UK warns that fake immigration officers work some Mexican airports, so refuse offers of help.

Once you're in, the cheapest link is the public bus along Highway 1 between the two towns, which Visit Los Cabos, the tourism board, puts at $2 to $3 and about an hour, with stops at the big hotels. Uber is the useful app inside each town and from town to the airport, about MX$240 (about $13) on average from San José. Taxis don't run meters, and Visit Los Cabos puts a ride between the two towns at $60 to $70, so agree on the fare before you get in. Taxi vans in San José are red and yellow, in Cabo San Lucas blue and green. For Todos Santos, Santiago or the East Cape, rent a car. You must be 24, and local insurance adds $20 to $25 a day.

What's Changed Since 2016

2016 to 2025: the airport nearly doubled. SJD handled 4.09 million passengers in 2016 and 7.53 million in 2025, after a dip to 3.06 million in 2020 and a record 7.72 million in 2023. In San José, growth has been pushed outside the historic center, mostly south toward the beaches, which is why the centro still feels like a town and the highway out to the airport doesn't.

October 2023: Hurricane Norma made landfall in Baja California Sur as a Category 1 and damaged trees, homes and boats in Cabo San Lucas, with about 285 million pesos of damage statewide.

2024 to 2026: Michelin came to Mexico. The first Mexican guide in 2024 gave Los Cabos 18 listings, including a star for Cocina de Autor at Grand Velas on the Corridor. By 2026 the count was 24, with Bib Gourmands for Flora Farms Kitchen, Metate and Cocina de Campo in El Pescadero, and green stars for Flora Farms and Acre.

2026: the visitor fee, now MX$983, and automated entry. Airlines build the immigration form and its fee into air tickets, adults can use e-gates at the main airports, and you can download proof of your permitted stay from the INM portal within the first 60 days. Meanwhile, the June 2026 reminder from the US Consulate in Tijuana made it official that Uber may drop off at SJD but can't pick up.

February 22, 2026: the killing of the Jalisco cartel leader El Mencho set off roadblocks across western Mexico, and Alaska Airlines canceled 24 flights to Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara and Manzanillo. Its Portland to Los Cabos flight ran as planned. That day showed how separate this peninsula is from mainland Mexico's security problems, though both Canada and the UK still warn about crime in resort areas.

September 28 to October 2, 2026: two storms in a week. Hurricane Polo, which had peaked as the second most intense Pacific hurricane on record, came ashore as a Category 2 near Las Barrancas in Comondú, about 200 miles north, and Los Cabos lost little more than a few beach days and some delayed flights. Canada lifted its advisory against non-essential travel to Baja California Sur on October 1. The next day Hurricane Rachel, passing to the south, closed every beach and the port in Cabo San Lucas, and cruise ships skipped the stop.

What the Usual Advice Gets Wrong

"Grab the free ride the friendly person in arrivals is offering." At SJD that offer is almost always a timeshare pitch, often with a breakfast and a gift attached, and Wikivoyage says the tour can eat four hours of your trip. Walk through to the curb. If you do sign something, Canada's government notes you can cancel a timeshare contract without penalty within five working days, and a waiver of that right is illegal.

"Just order an Uber when you land." Uber can drop you at SJD but is not allowed to pick up there, the US Consulate in Tijuana repeated in June 2026, and officials have been stopping suspected rideshare cars at the departure curb. Take the bus, pre-book a shuttle or buy an official taxi at the Terminal 2 kiosks with cash, $65 to $115 depending on how far you're going.

"It's a beach resort, so swim at the beach in front of your hotel." Much of the Los Cabos shoreline is unsafe for swimming because of rough surf, rip currents and undertow, and Divorce Beach on the Pacific side of the Arch is one of the worst. The swimmable list is short. In Cabo San Lucas it's Medano Beach and Lover's Beach, and on the Corridor it's Acapulquito and Chileno. Look for the green flag, and stay out under red or black.

"Stay in Cabo San Lucas, because that's where everything is." Cabo San Lucas has the marina, the Arch boats and the bars, but it is 23 miles from the airport and most of its center is built for cruise passengers and spring breakers. San José del Cabo is 8 miles from SJD, has a real plaza and the art and food nights, and is closer to Flora Farms, the East Cape and Cabo Pulmo. Visit Cabo San Lucas. Sleep in San José.

"Go see the gray whales nursing their calves off Cabo." Whale Watch Cabo's boats look for humpbacks and gray whales between December 15 and April 15 and claim a 98% sighting rate from the boat. To get close to gray whales, the same operator sells a separate $399 day trip north to Puerto Chale on the Pacific coast, or a two-day van tour at $599.

"Todos Santos' Hotel California is the one from the Eagles song." The song isn't about any real hotel. The Eagles sued the hotel for trademark infringement in May 2017, and under the 2018 settlement it kept the name but now denies any connection with the band. Go to Todos Santos for the mission town, the surf at Cerritos and the Michelin-listed restaurants. The hotel itself is now a restaurant, bar and boutique.

Ideas to Consider for Your Visit

Have you thought about spending your Tuesday and Thursday evenings in San José's centro? Every Tuesday from 5pm to 9pm, Sabores San José closes Calle Morelos, Álvaro Obregón and the surrounding streets to traffic, and restaurants put out special-price tasting dishes while rondalla groups, guitar and requinto ensembles, play on the corners. On Thursdays from November through June, the Art Walk keeps the galleries in the art district open late. Eat at Sage on Morelos one night, then on a calmer evening take a seafood comida at El Toro Güero on Calle Ildefonso Green, a palapa that fills with locals at lunchtime.

Book a meal on a farm. Flora Farms is a 25-acre organic farm in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna just north of San José, with its own 150-acre ranch for meat. Flora's Field Kitchen serves brunch Tuesday to Sunday and dinner every night, and Michelin gave it both a Bib Gourmand and a green star. Book ahead through its online reservations. It's the best argument for Los Cabos food beyond tacos. Acre, nearby, earned the other green star.

Take the boats to the Arch, and pick your hour. The three-story granite arch at Land's End is where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, and water taxis and glass-bottom boats leave from Medano Beach and the marina. Pick a day with no cruise ship in port if you can, and ask to be dropped at Lover's Beach on the Sea of Cortez side, which is calm enough to swim and snorkel. Bring shoes, because the sand gets hot by afternoon, and don't swim on the Divorce Beach side, where the Pacific surf comes in hard.

In winter, go whale watching with a small operator. Whale Watch Cabo runs group trips at $89 for adults and Zodiac trips at $79 during the December 15 to April 15 peak, with marine biologist guides, and its boats look for both humpbacks and gray whales. If you want gray whales up close, budget a long day north to Puerto Chale on the Pacific side.

Spend a night in Todos Santos, about an hour north of Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19, right on the Tropic of Cancer. The town grew up around a 1723 mission and was Baja's sugarcane capital in the 1800s, with eight mills. It's now a Pueblo Mágico of about 7,200 people, galleries, the farm-to-table Jazamango and Michelin-listed kitchens like Tenoch at Paradero and Oystera. Surf or take a lesson at Playa Los Cerritos, watch the fishing cooperative's pangas launch through the surf at Punta Lobos, and eat at Cocina de Campo in El Pescadero.

Drive the East Cape to Cabo Pulmo, about 62 miles up the Gulf coast from Cabo San Lucas. The national park was created in 1995 after the local community pushed for it, fish abundance had risen by 462% by 2010 after fishing was banned, and it now draws international attention as a model for running marine reserves. Its reef is the oldest of only three coral reefs on the west coast of North America, and the fish swim a few dozen yards off the sand, so you can snorkel it from the beach. Cabo Pulmo Eco Adventures, a local family business since 2004, runs snorkel and dive trips and rents bungalows near the beach.

Head inland to the mountains. Santiago, about an hour north of San José, is a 1723 mission town with hot springs at Agua Caliente, El Chorro and Santa Rita within 10 miles, and a big feast on July 25. The Sol de Mayo ranch near Santiago, inside the Sierra de la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, has a waterfall and pools of mountain water you can swim in, and it's a cool escape when the coast hits the mid-90s.

The Part Most Guides Miss

Most guides treat San José as a quieter Cabo San Lucas. What they miss is the water. The San José river runs underground for about 25 miles from the Sierra de la Laguna and surfaces behind the beach as an estuary, the same freshwater the Manila galleons stopped for, and the Jesuits founded their mission on its bank. The estuary sits just east of the old town, behind a sandbar on the beach. Walk out early, before the heat, and you're in a green oasis of palms and brackish water in a desert that gets less than 2 inches of rain from December through July.

Where to Base Yourself

San José del Cabo centro. The best base for most independent travelers. It's 8 miles from SJD, about MX$240 by Uber to the airport on the way out, and it has the plaza, the Tuesday food night, the Thursday Art Walk and real taquerías. Hostelworld lists dorms here at $15 to $25 at places like Desert Heart and Whale Tales. The catch is that the swimmable beaches on the Corridor are a drive or bus ride away.

Cabo San Lucas, around Medano and the marina. Pick it if the Arch, the boats, sportfishing and nightlife are the point. You can walk to Medano Beach, the safest swimming in town, and to the marina's boats. The catch is the noise, the cruise crowds, a $90 to $115 airport taxi, and March, when the town fills with spring breakers.

The Corridor. The 20 miles of resorts between the towns, with the best swimming beaches at Chileno and Acapulquito and most of the luxury hotels. Good for a family that wants a pool and a calm cove. The catch is that you're behind a gate on a highway, and every meal out means a taxi, a car or a bus stop on the shoulder.

Todos Santos and El Pescadero. For surfers, slower travelers and anyone who wants Baja without the resort economy. It's cooler than the cape in summer, with July highs around 87°F (30°C) against 96°F (35°C) in San José. The catch is an hour's drive to Cabo San Lucas, longer to SJD, and Pacific beaches better for surfing than swimming.

Realities to Be Aware Of

Budget is where Los Cabos hurts. A lean day can work: a dorm at $15 to $25, the $2 to $3 bus, and meals at places like El Toro Güero or Las Guacamayas, which Wikivoyage puts at around MX$200 (about $11). That's roughly $50 to $65 a day. Mid-range gets expensive fast, because the Los Cabos Hotel Association says the average room held at about $400 a night through September 2026, and taxis and rental insurance add up. Comfortable here means resort rates. Carry pesos, because the airport taxi kiosks prefer cash and card machines go down.

Safety is mostly about the ocean and the night. Canada advises a high degree of caution for Mexico as a whole but has no regional warning for Baja California Sur, and the UK lists Los Cabos among the tourist zones Mexico works to protect, while warning that British travelers in those zones have been assaulted, sometimes involving hotel staff, taxi drivers or security guards. Watch your drink, order sealed bottles in clubs, and know that tainted alcohol, including methanol, has made travelers in Mexico ill. Storm swells have caused fatal accidents on these beaches, so obey the flags. The tourist assistance center, CATTAC Los Cabos, is on 624-105-0551, and 911 works.

A few rules catch people out. Bringing or selling vapes and e-cigarettes is illegal in Mexico, and customs can confiscate them, and smoking is banned on beaches, in parks and in restaurants. Don't drive at night outside the towns, because of stray livestock, poorly lit vehicles and potholes, and always stop at military checkpoints. Green Angels, the free assistance on major toll highways, answers on 078 from 8am to 6pm. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Baja California Sur since June 2019, and the tourism board runs a Pride program.

Crowds follow the North American calendar, with the holiday weeks around Christmas and New Year and spring break as the peaks. In 2026 about 70,000 spring breakers passed through Cabo San Lucas in the four weeks to early April, centered on Medano Beach by day, the downtown clubs by night and the big hotel pool parties, with police and National Guard patrols. Cruise passengers add another wave there on port days, so plan Arch trips and the marina around the ship schedule.

If Los Cabos Is Part of a Longer Trip

The natural add-on is north. Autotransportes Aguila runs frequent buses from both towns to La Paz, about two hours from Cabo San Lucas and two and a half from San José. La Paz is a working state capital on the Sea of Cortez, with a waterfront promenade and four-hour boat tours to Isla Espíritu Santo from Playa El Tecolote. Alaska also flies into La Paz, so you can land at SJD and leave from La Paz without backtracking.

To get to the mainland without flying, Baja Ferries sails overnight from Pichilingue, about 30 minutes north of La Paz, to Topolobampo in about 8 hours and to Mazatlán in about 12. Topolobampo is the jumping-off point for the Chepe train through the Copper Canyon, which turns a beach week into a real trip across northern Mexico. Check current sailings and fares on the operator's site, since the last fare Wikivoyage recorded dates from 2021.

By air, SJD has nonstops to most of the western US and Canada, from San Diego and Seattle to Vancouver, and Mexico City is its busiest domestic route, which makes Mexico City the obvious second stop for a Mexico trip. If you're stringing Los Cabos into a longer loop through Central America or across the Pacific, open-jaw tickets that arrive in one place and leave from another save the most time, and AirTreks builds that kind of multi-stop routing.

Yearly Things to Consider

Two things set the calendar: the whales and the storms. Highs sit at 82°F to 85°F (28°C to 30°C) from December to March, almost no rain falls from March to June, and humpbacks are in from December 15 to April 15. That's high season, and it's priced like it. From July the heat builds to 96°F (35°C) highs, and hurricane season, mid-May to the end of November on the Pacific side, peaks in September, which averages 6.6 inches of rain, nearly half the year's total.

The counterintuitive part is that low season isn't much cheaper. In September 2026 hotels ran at 44% occupancy and still held average rates around $400, because the five-star properties would rather sit half empty than discount. If you're flexible, May and June are the best value for the weather, dry and hot but not yet stormy, and the water is warming. Late October and November are good too, after Bisbee's Black & Blue marlin tournament (October 19 to 24 in 2026) and before Thanksgiving, though storms can still turn up, as Rachel did on October 2.

Ideas for Itineraries

3 Days in Los Cabos

Day one, take the bus or an official taxi from SJD to San José del Cabo, drop your bag and walk the centro, the plaza and the mission church, then out to the estuary at dusk. If it's a Tuesday or Thursday, stay for Sabores San José or the Art Walk. Day two, ride the bus along the Corridor to Cabo San Lucas, take a morning boat to the Arch and Lover's Beach, and swim at Medano in the afternoon before tacos and the bus back. Day three, snorkel at Chileno in the morning, when the water is clearest, and book an early dinner at Flora's Field Kitchen.

5 Days in Los Cabos

Do the three days above, then rent a car. On day four, drive Highway 19 to Todos Santos, about an hour from Cabo San Lucas, walk the mission town and the galleries, and stay for sunset at Punta Lobos or a surf lesson at Cerritos. Sleep there if you can. On day five, cross back through the hills to Santiago for the hot springs at Agua Caliente or the Sol de Mayo waterfall, then return to San José. In winter, swap either day for a morning whale-watching trip from the marina.

1 Week in Los Cabos

Split the week between two bases. Spend three nights in San José for the town, the Arch day and the Corridor beaches, then three in Todos Santos or El Pescadero for surf, slow mornings and the Michelin-listed restaurants. Use the car for a long day up the East Cape to Cabo Pulmo for beach snorkeling on the reef, or for the drive to La Paz and a boat to Isla Espíritu Santo. Keep the last night near SJD so the flight isn't hostage to Highway 1 traffic.

2 Weeks or More in Los Cabos

Two weeks lets you live here instead of visiting. Rent an apartment in San José's centro or a casita in Todos Santos and keep the car for weekends. Spend one weekend on the East Cape between Los Barriles and Cabo Pulmo, another in La Paz with a boat day to Isla Espíritu Santo, and give a third to the Sierra de la Laguna. If you're working remotely, test a rental's Wi-Fi speed before you commit, and keep the hurricane months in mind for anything booked from August to October.

Sources

What this guide is built on. Every page below was read for this guide; prices and rules were checked in October 2026.

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